Complicated navigation devices are well known in the art. Typically, such devices determine a user's geographic position in terms of latitude, longitude, and altitude. The measurements of latitude and longitude are commonly given in degrees, minutes, and seconds, with the measurement of altitude given in feet above or below sea level. While such terms and measurement units may be instructive to those familiar with geo-positioning, such terms and measurements are not always helpful to the average consumer.
In an attempt to present geographic position information in a more user friendly manner, some prior art navigation devices display written information easily understandable to the average consumer. The written information is displayed in addition to conventional latitude, longitude, and altitude measurements. Commonly, the written information includes the speed of the user, the distance of the user from a destination and/or origination, and the direction in which the user is heading. The addition of written information renders prior art navigation devices more "user-friendly". However, such written information is still presented in a format which is not always readily understood by the average consumer. That is, the distance to or from a specific latitude and longitude is a description which many consumers do not find intrinsically explanatory.
In yet another attempt to present geographic position information in a consumer-oriented format, some prior art navigation devices graphically display the position of the user on a detailed map. Thus, the user of the navigation device observes his or her position on a graphically displayed conventional map. Although such a display may be more helpful than latitude and longitude readings alone, such displays are often too "crowded" with information. That is, typical consumers may find that such displays provide so much information that the display screen is both difficult and confusing to read. In addition to the superfluous volume of information presented by a detailed map display, such devices typically require a larger display screen. In order to accommodate the requisite larger display screen, such prior art navigation devices are often fixedly mounted, for example, in vehicles. Due to the required large screen, such systems are not well suited to being hand-carried. Furthermore, such map displaying prior art devices require significant downloading of detailed map information to establish the map database. If the map information is transmitted to the navigation device, the complex and voluminous nature of the detailed map information necessitates complicated and time-consuming transmission schemes.
Thus, a need exists for a navigation device which presents geographic position information in a consumer-oriented format, a navigation device which does not overwhelm a user with complex detailed map information, a navigation device which does not require complicated transmission and time-consuming transmission schemes, and a navigation device which is portable and well suited to being hand-carried.